NY City

Two off-duty officers were waiting in plain clothes for the train on a Long Island Rail Road platform when a man attempted to rob them. One of the officers shot the thief and he was hospitalized in stable condition. The officers sustained minor injuries.

 The police identified the thief as Jahmar Stewart, 32, whose last known address is a Brooklyn homeless shelter.

Three - of many - issues here are NY City’s soft on crime policies, the inability of NY City citizens to get a concealed carry permit and "gun-free zones"

According to the New York Post, Stewart has a number of arrests to his name this year. New York City's soft-on-crime policies returned a violent suspect to the streets, even when he was already facing charges from a previous arrest.

Stewart was arrested on August 8th for allegedly attacking another resident at the homeless shelter.  The victim was gathering his belongings when he got into an argument with Stewart, who slugged him multiple times.  The top charge in that case was third-degree assault, which is not bail-eligible, and Stewart was released on his own recognizance.

Stewart was busted on a petit larceny charge July 16th for allegedly stealing fruit juice from a bodega on East New York Avenue.

Stewart was also arrested and charged with menacing in July for allegedly threatening another resident at the homeless shelter with a knife, but was released on his own recognizance.

Stewart was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault in June, after allegedly hitting another resident in the head with a tree branch. 

If they are going to allow criminals to roam the streets, shouldn’t citizens be able to ‘bear arms’ to protect themselves.  Didn’t the Supreme Court’s heller McDonald and Bruen decisions have something to say about citizens bearing arms to protect themselves?  Apparently, Supreme Court decisions do not apply in NY City.

The NYPD is slow-walking the issuance of concealed carry permits. In fact, the department won't even say how many permits have been issued this year, but there are ongoing lawsuits featuring plaintiffs who have waited a year or more to receive their carry permit.  In other cases, litigants have been awarded their permits only after they've filed suit.  (You have to hire an attorney or threaten a lawsuit to exercise a fundamental civil right in NYC, unless you're willing to wait a year or two before being able to legally bear arms.) 

Since most of NYC is a “gun free zone,” the few New York City residents who've been able to obtain a license to carry are prohibited from lawfully carrying throughout much of the five boroughs, including on public transportation, A 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld "gun-free zones", declaring that "prohibiting firearms in quintessentially crowded places" is part of the national tradition of gun ownership.   

There's virtually no chance of legislative relief in New York State dominated by leftist gun grabbers in all three branches of government.  There is litigation but it will take years. In the meantime, American citizens in New York City remain at risk from violent predators and are prohibited from exercising their Second Amendment right to armed self-defense.

This was apparently the third attempted robbery of off-duty police officers in the Big Apple within a week-long span.  Luckily for the police, they can carry a firearm when off duty; something denied to almost all other law-abiding New York City residents.  Why should off-duty law enforcement be the only ones who can protect themselves with a firearm in these dangerous environments? 

Answer.  Because Kathy Hochul says so.  If you don’t like being told what you can’t do, vote  her out in 2026.